Celebrity cab driver fights off burglars armed with metal bars during 4am break-in at friend’s pub

Wayne O'Hare, a star on the BBC's All Together Now, rugby-tackled crooks after hearing them smash their way in

The Boars Rock pub in Dundee (Google)

A TV star found himself caught up in a dangerous real-life drama when he was attacked by two burglars armed with metal bars who had broken into a friend’s pub.

Wayne O’Hare – one half of the Singing Cabbies act that featured on BBC’s All Together Now – rugby-tackled the raiders as they tried to smash into the bar’s tills at 4am.

And, despite repeatedly hitting him with a two-foot steel pole, his assailants ended up fleeing empty-handed.

“I wasn’t having them stealing from my mate,” O'Hare said.

The drama unfolded as the 51-year-old taxi driver slept above the Boars Rock pub in his home city of Dundee on Friday.

Awoken by the bar’s alarm, he rushed downstairs to find the door smashed in and the thieves already at the tills.

He told the city’s Courier newspaper: “I ran in and rugby-tackled one of them while he was trying to get money from the till. I tried to stop them but it was difficult with the two of them. I gave as good as I got, though.

“While I had a hold of one, the other started smashing me on the head with a two-foot steel bar. He hit me about 15 or 20 times.

“I realised that he could really hurt me if he kept going so I let the guy go."

The owners of the pub, John and Karen Rollo, arrived to find Mr O’Hare, a friend for a number of years, being treated in an ambulance. He was taken to hospital with a cut to the back of his head.

Police Scotland said they were investigating the break-in and released a description of the two suspects.

The first had no teeth and was in his 40s, about 6ft 1in and of medium build. He was wearing bulky clothing, including a grey hooded top, and spoke with a local accent.

The second was in his 20s, about 5ft 8in and slim. He was wearing a dark hooded top and light grey or blue woollen bobble hat.

A spokesman for the force said: “We would also like to ask local residents in the immediate area who have private CCTV to get in touch with us, as well as any drivers who were in the area at that time who have dashcams.”